


Coaching

by hart051



Series: Vic's new life [3]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alien Technology, Canon Compliant, Empathy, Gen, Team as Family, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-08-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25620010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hart051/pseuds/hart051
Summary: Jaime takes up a mentor-esque or coaching role in helping Vic understand his new tech.
Series: Vic's new life [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1795900
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12
Collections: Young Justice Bingo 2020





	1. Part 1: Symbiosis

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Bug Jar Chapter 26: Get a Bigger Gun](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/674272) by MasterQwertster. 



> For the prompt "Victor Stone"  
> I have been dying to air this work. It is implied from Outsiders episode 21 "Unknown Factors" and even episode 24 "Into the Breach" Jaime teaches Vic a thing or two about his tech and they shared a few meaningful scenes that represent/echo this. I have seen one author's interpretation through a fic titled "The Bug Jar" on Fanfiction.net. There's a chapter on how Vic learned he could change his left arm into a literal cannon/blaster.  
> The reason I hadn't released this was with the question of a 'training scene'. It'll be a while until I get it the way I like, but in the meantime here's a 'starting point' when the two talk about shared experiences.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To bros talking about how alien-tech have changed their lives forever.

“So mind telling me in more about your...” Jaime fidgeted with his hands trying to figure out what to say and how to say it. “Prosthetics.”

“What about them?” Vic asked.

“Tell me everything you can.”

“Like what?”

“For one, you could tell me how this happened.” Jaime suggested gesturing to Vic's whole body. “Or what can you do with your prosthetics.”

Vic sighed. 

The former football player took Jaime’s offer to help understand and adjust to his new ‘situation’. They are sitting on the couch in the lounge area of the Hub. Vic is starting to reach out to a new community he is a part of. Of heroes public and covert. All of them had been considerate and not entirely shocked or treated him like a freak. It was nice and a new normal he’s starting to like. 

Vic started telling his new friend what happened from the explosion, the FatherBox taking over, the Halo cleanses, the random text alerts, and his recent Mobius infusion. Jaime kept silent mostly, nodding along and occasionally parroting back what he said. 

“That must have been very frightening for you.” Jaime said at the end of his recount. The look Jaime gave him knocked him off his feet like a sack that comes out of nowhere. 

“You said something about having been in my shoes.” Vic began. ”Does your Scarab-?”

Jaime nodded. “Yeah. It’s alive. It also has that iconic cold logic alien AIs have in movies and comics. A lot of its ‘efficient tactics’ involve killing.” Jaime’s eyes disconnected from Vic's and his voice took on a new tone. “Yes....Yes they do….No, I am trying to keep us…. Heroes don’t kill. Do you really have to make it harder than it already is?”

“You okay dude?” He was a little concerned for his possible friend, mentor, coach? He already got the impression that Jaime was a good guy who rarely gets angry, starts a fight or anything lest he is pushed in a certain direction and is often sarcastic. 

“Oh, _lo siento._ Sorry.” Jaime looked up sheepishly. “I do that-a lot.”

“So you talk to your Scarab like it’s a devil on your shoulder.”

Jaime nodded and shrugged nonchalantly. “I prefer Jiminy Kricket with a really bad attitude.”

Vic chuckled.

“So from what you told me, you have enhanced strength, some technopathy, scanners and weaponry.”

“What about you?”

“Pretty much the same stuff, except I can also fly.”

“Lucky you.” Vic muttered darkly, He pondered for a second. “How do you get past it?”

“Get past what?” 

“Having a murderous AI as a second conscious?”

“At this point Scarab is more of an annoying college roommate. I had long accepted it as a friend, a brother, an _hermano_.”

Vic raised an eyebrow. “‘Hermano’ means brother in Spanish doesn’t it?”

“It does, but for me to call someone who is not related to me but I think of like family, someone who’s got my back and I got his, that’s what hermano means.” He pointed to him. “Like you.”

“Thanks.”

“The reason behind Scarab’s violent options is that it’s concerned about my safety and well-being. It just resorts to the most brutal options to ensure the immediate threat will not bother me again.” Jaime examined Vic’s face closely. “But you don’t have FatherBox's soul in you anymore. What’s your worry?”

“I don’t really know what I can do, a little scared to find out.”

“That’s why I’m here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Jaime sometimes addresses his teammates (mostly the guys) as either 'ese' or 'hermano'. From the uses Jaime often uses 'ese' with members he is not very close with or if he's tired/is in a certain mood. 'Hermano' is used with those he's close to. Here are all known instances (maybe more):  
> *He called Robin (Tim Drake) both in "Happy New Year" (Season 2, episode 1); Hermano to confirm he understands Robin's command, and 'ese' when he warns him about the  
> *He only ever called Beast Boy (Gar) hermano once in "Happy New Year" 'hermano', but from what I can tell/infer they are definitely close.  
> *He called Superboy 'ese' in "Salvage" (Season 2 episode 4) while asking about what's the mission about and that he was only picked because he was available compared to other members.  
> *He called Tye 'hermano' in "Beneath" (Season 2 episode 5) in trying to convince him from 'running away' or at least having a talk.  
> *He called Bart both 'hermano' in "Darkest" (Season 2 episode 9) in jest and 'ese' in "The Fix" (Season 2 episode 13) tired from the mission/adventure in the previous episode.  
> *He called Scarab 'hermano', mentally in "Intervention" (Season 2 episode 18) discussing why the Team had taken them to Bialya. In "Endgame" (Season 2 episode 20) in the last fight against Black Beetle, Jaime affirms his and Scarab's partnership/bond calling them "...friends, hermanos, fighting side by side."  
> * Lastly he address Vic as 'hermano' in "Into the Breach" (Season 3 episode 24) telling him "...the fight's this way..."


	2. Part 2: Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Vic got a bigger gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In "Darkest" Jaime and Bart 'chill-hang' in the mountains outside of El Paso. I figured Jaime would take Vic to practice shooting. In 'typing' this I wanted to portray their relationship as not completely mentor-mentee, with one being 'above' the other but they ultimately figure things out despite how much they really know.

Jaime had told him he never done anything like this or really had a mentor to help him though learning the ins and outs of Scarab. Some of it was on the fly, some was with Scarab’s guidance, in short Jaime was mainly self-taught on his tech’s functions and tools. It was nice to know this and made him seem more like a peer rather than a mentor.

They started with some passive systems, getting used to the scanners, then one day Jaime took him through the zeta-tubes to somewhere in mountains outside of El Paso.

“What are we doing here?” Vic asked.

“Target practice.” Jaime answered while armoring up. 

Lucky him. Vic thought darkly.

Blue Beetle’s wings extended out and his right arm morphed in what looked like a spacey gun. Beetle took off, hovering 100 meters off the ground.

“It’s a scanner, not a gun. Scanning for nearby life forms.” He explained. “We’re clear.”

“So we’re here to-?”

“Find out what you can do.” He answered as he descended. “Before I joined the Team let alone the Outsiders, this had been my training ground.”

“So, what’s up first Coach?” Vic teased, then realized something. “Wait, couldn’t you just scan me with that thing or your armor?”

“Actually no. Scarab isn’t compatible with tech like yours.” He turned to the side and engaged in yet another conversation with the Scarab. “It’s fine. He’s not going to blast us… He just got de-fatherboxed...We’re trying to help him so he can adjust...I know...”

Vic watched with a mixture of awe and some confusion.

“Do you always disagree with the Scarab?”

“Almost all the time.” Beetle shrugged. “Let’s just start with target practice.”

“It’s not like I’m going to-”

“You said you are scared of what you could do. I was like that too.” He explained. “Fear comes from not knowing. Even before I learned Scarab was even alien tech, I was afraid of it because it often offered violent options. Over time I learned they were options Scarab thought best that ensured I would not get killed and the best way to remove a threat immediately. You have control, you need to learn what makes your tech tick, what can it do so you know when or when not to use it.”

Vic considered Beetle’s argument.

“Okay coach.” He nodded. “Show me what to do.”

“Keep an eye on that rock.”

Blue Beetle extended his right arm in the direction of the rock and his signature sonic cannon built over his arm. 

“Whenever I shoot I get a screen with a bullseye like in those first person shooting games. I pick my target and try to line it up. When I’m confident about my aim, I shoot.”

He demonstrated successfully shattering a boulder.

“Crash.”

“Now it’s your turn.” He pointed to another boulder. “Try blasting that rock over there.”

“Ok.” Vic turned in the direction of his target. “Does your arm hurt when it turns into a gun?”

“No, not really. Scarab builds over my arm.”

“But where does it get all that stuff, the matter to build the gun.”

“It’s nanotech, better you don’t ask more about matter and stuff.” Beetle stressed.

“Right.” Vic focused on his target, extending his left arm, palm out using his right arm to support it. In his robotic eye he saw what Jaime was implying. He felt a whirl through his left arm and a surge of energy going through his hybrid circuitry, letting it build up in his palm. After letting it build he released a sonic burst. There was a recoil, much like how a policeman or some other trained arms user. He ended up burning a hole in a leafless shrub.

“Dang it.” Vic cursed.

“Well there’s a first time for everything.” Beetle said encouragingly.

A few more tries and he had managed to shatter the rock. 

“Okay. That could have gone better.” Vic moaned.

“Hey, training wheels.” He patted Vic on the back. “Let’s head back.”

* * *

The next few times were the same thing. Each time got a little better, but it was kind of painful to do the whole ‘palm’ blaster thing over and over again.

“Hey, could you make your gun bigger?”

“Sure If bring my arms together and even over my chest. I did that one time against Black Beetle.”

“Black Beetle?” Vic blinked.“There are other Beetles?”

“There had been.” He answered. “It’s a long story in itself.”

“We’ve got time.”

“Let’s break.”

Jaime recounted the mentions of other Beetles. The enemy Black and the double agent Green. Both no longer Beetles with their scarabs destroyed, but still alive.

“Wow.” Vic said. “That’s hard to believe.”

“ _ Si hermano. _ ”

“When you got the Scarab did you know you want to be a hero?”

“Not exactly. For like the first few months I was more focused on trying to be normal, but Scarab kept giving me ‘notifications’, ‘questions’ at the worst times. That and it tried to plasma blast a couple of typical high school bullies.”

Vic just remembered the one instance his ‘teammates’ harassed a younger boy, Cisco? He couldn’t find any reason for Jaime to be picked on outside of his tendency to talk to himself.

“Then I eventually learned about Ted Kord, the previous Blue Beetle from some of his ‘colleagues’ Guy Gardner, Captain Atom and even this ex-military guy who goes by Peacemaker. And I thought maybe I could be a hero too.”

“Did you?”

“That’s what led to this ‘DIY training’. It helped, but there weren’t a lot of baddies in El Paso and I only ‘heroed up’ when needed rather than find trouble.” Jaime took another gulp of water. “And fly to school when I wake up late.”

Vic chuckled. “Then somehow you joined the Team.”

“And two years later the Outsiders.”

“I don’t know if I’m really up for the whole hero thing.”

“It’s a choice. I wanted to be a hero and it wasn’t just because of the powers. My mom’s a nurse at the hospital and my dad works at a garage. They are some of the many people I respect the most.” Jaime paused, then smiled. “They’ve done so much for me and my sister and their own work. I’ve seen my mom exhausted and bitching about some doctor or patient who was ‘rude’ and my dad going at it with a certain guy, but business is still going.”

“They sure sound like role models.”

“They’re even cool with the whole hero thing. They still worry, but they trust that I’ll come home and support me.”

“You said you had a sister too.”

Jaime nodded. “Milagro, she’s a bit of a brat, but she’s my brat sister.”

“She’s fine with the whole hero thing?”

“She either downplays it or just doesn’t care.”

Vic didn’t know many people with siblings, but with the way Jaime gets along with the rest of the Outsiders he could tell that he loved his brat sister. They resumed practice.

“About that ‘bigger gun thing’. Your arm is completely tech, all weaponized and what not.” Beetle pointed to Vic’s shooting arm.

“So...” Vic prompted.

“Instead of like for me having to build a bigger gun over my arms, you could try changing the build of your arm.” Beetle suggested.

“Sounds cool, but how exactly am I supposed to do that coach.”

“Try imagining it. Picture a bigger gun.”

Vic made a face.

“Nothing wrong with trying.” Beetle shrugged.

Vic gave it a shot. (no pun intended) The schematic of a larger gun popped up in his brain when he thought about it. He pressed on and felt his left arm change, plates of metal retracting back, his hand detaching and sliding over the expanding barrel. He felt his new toy whirl to life.

“Woah.” Beetle marveled as Vic stared at his transformed arm.

“It worked.” Vic said in some disbelief.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Try it!” Beetle urged.

Vic scoffed, but following his coach’s instruction he lined his tech’s target circle with a boulder and proceeded to blast it. It obliterated the boulder. A large chunk and both sides of the boulder remained with a smoking black smolder in the center.

“Crash!” They both exclaimed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- In "Into the Breach" Scarab can identify tech that is from Apokalips, but still labels is as "not compatible". I figured Scarab could scan Vic for life signs, but not for the actual tech. Not to 'identify' components or any in depth analysis.  
> \- According the Blue Beetle 2006 Scarab uses 'dead cells' from Jaime's body to recreate his clothes. I figured this would apply to the YJ version.  
> \- Cisco is a character introduced in "Exceptional Human Beings". In other DC media he is the hero known as Vibe with the ability to create portals/a rift between space called 'Breaches' and send out vibrational shockwaves. His debut appearance in Young Justice he becomes a victim of bullying as he comes into the locker room(he's the towel boy) as a pair of Vic's teammates discuss which female justice leaguer they'd ask out. The jocks laugh at Cisco's answer and proceed to physically assault him. Vic walks by the scene and chooses to ignore them. In one of the final shots in "Nevermore" Cisco is pinned against one of the lockers by one of the two jocks. Lucky for him Vic intervenes and proceeds to walk with him away from said jock. I decided to add mention of him as Jaime describes what his early experience with Scarab.  
> \- If you read Blue Beetle comics 2006 and beyond, Jaime's mom Bianca works at the hospital (as a nurse in 2006 or as a doctor in 2017) and his dad Alberto is a mechanic (in both iterations). From the comics he appears to have a deep respect for both parents and the occasional child-parent conflicts and Scarab/hero-related difficulties, but ultimately they love each other.  
> \- In Blue Beetle 2006 there's a certain guy who works for Alberto. Said guy ends up in jail for his illegal transactions, but is viewed by Jaime as the reason why his dad is 'crippled' for life. I make mention of him in this work.  
> \- As for Bianca, from what I've seen in the comic I would describe her like many working moms who have it hard at work but in the end continue to do what they do and try to instill that spirit in raising their children.   
> -


End file.
